On Fri, Jul 22, 2011 at 10:30 AM, Jones Beene <jone...@pacbell.net> wrote: > Terry, > > Stray current between two resistance heaters would be counter-intuitive, > since the heaters are supposed to be well insulated electrically,
Not necessarily. Note that the internal heater could be a nichrome or tungsten wire in actual contact with the reactor powder for direct heating (oh, have you considered it could also have a small motor to stir up the powder a la Les Case?). As long as the reactor housing is isolated from ground and the PWM supply, it would not be a problem. The band heater works by a heating element in the bottom of the band. If one lead of this heater is used as a current (electron) return, then one of the internal elements could be used as a source. The return lead of the band heater would have to be tied to the housing of the ecat or the band with no insulation between the band and the housing. Indeed, there are probably band heaters where the return lead is connected to the band for safety purposes. However, I am not discounting your comment regarding the Seebeck effect. I'll need to wrap my head around that one for a bit. T
